Laikipia is a vibrant ecosystem that is home to more than half a million people, 80 per cent being rural communities surrounded by diverse flora and fauna.
It is also home to some of the rarest and endangered animals
including the Grevy's zebra, Rhinos, Elephants and the African Wild dogs. Laikipia’s
staggering natural beauty attracts more than 86,000 tourists every year and generates annual gross revenue of over
Sh1. 5 billion with most of them being hosted in both private and community conservancy
lodges and camps.
Laikipia is also one of Kenya’s 47 counties, covering an area of 9,500 km² (9.5 million hectares) and part of the much broader Ewaso ecosystem. The Ewaso Ng’iro river flows northeast through the County, fed by tributaries flowing off Mount Kenya’s glaciers. The plateau connects the arid regions of the Horn of Africa to the north and the savannas of East Africa to the south. It is a patchwork of community and private conservancies, commercial ranches and rangelands.
Numerous organizations that manage the conservancies have
committed themselves to the preservation of large tracts of land. These
conservancies collectively manage 3,500 square kilometres of wildlife habitat,
sustaining globally significant biodiversity while supporting pastoral and commercial
cattle enterprises. The County’s economic
activities consist mainly of tourism and agriculture, chiefly grain crops,
ranching, and greenhouse horticulture.
There are numerous tourist attractions in Laikipia County,
including private wildlife conservancies, luxury safari lodges, and
camps. Globally acclaimed and award-winning attractions include Il
Ngwesi community conservancy located in Northern Kenya. On a small hill on the
eastern foot of the Laikipia Plateau, Il Ngwesi community-run camp is set at
the heart of the ranch. It is a leading light in the field of responsible and
sustainable tourism as well as home to several rhinos among other endangered
wildlife.
However, the idyllic vision of sustainable tourism in Laikipia County faces multifaceted challenges. These include Human-Wildlife Conflicts, Climate change, and the delicate balance between conservation and pastoralism by host communities which cast a shadow over the County's great tourism potential. Elephants, for example, are critical as a key component in shaping habitats and thus biodiversity while at the same time being key contributors to Human-Wildlife Conflict.
My study which is currently on the data analysis stage aimed to
investigate the role of conservation strategies and sustainable tourism
development in community conservancies in Laikipia County. This was through determining
the effect of environmental conservation, socio-cultural conservation,
community empowerment, and carbon reduction strategy on sustainable tourism
development. Nevertheless, the research was conducted in all the 13 communal
group ranches within Laikipia which would provide guidance in understanding
whether conservation really matter for sustainable tourism development among
the community conservancies, and if it has been really a success story or not.
The study has also addressed relevant concerns of the local communities in the County including their perception of elephants and how this critical species might impact sustainable tourism development. Preliminary results clearly show that elephants are the main cause of Human-Wildlife-Conflicts in the County compared to all other wildlife species. Nevertheless, it is also clear that because of the continuous awareness creation and conservation campaigns for this charismatic species by Kenya Wildlife Service, NGOs in Conservation and the County Government of Laikipia , these perceptions have now shifted from seeing elephants as a cause of conflicts to learning how to peacefully coexist with them in the same Landscape. This coexistence has positively influenced sustainable tourism development in the region.
Furthermore, and according to the local community members in
Lower Naibunga, several NGOs in conservation have come up with initiatives that
already had positive impacts on their livelihoods and sustainable tourism. For
example, Wyss Academy For Nature initiated the Semi-Circular Bunds project in
March 2023 which a few months later resulted to more vegetation cover as well
as improved pasture for cattle. In
addition, this restored land has been a pull factor for elephants and other wildlife,
especially after having been hugely degraded for a long time. A satellite photo
for monitoring has previously shown herds of elephants happily patronizing the
green fields which are as a result of this land restoration project.
Moreover, the study also investigated the Crocodile Jaw Dam that the National Government of Kenya proposed to construct along the Ewaso Ngiro River near the Laikipia-Isiolo boundary and how it influenced sustainable tourism development in Laikipia County. The proposed dam is part of the government-backed LAPSSET Project (Lamu Port Southern Sudan Ethiopia Corridor) under the government’s 2030 vision. As per the feedback from the local communities’ members from Koija community conservancy, which is one of the research areas, an indigenous Maasai group residing near the proposed dam site in Laikipia County, it is evident that the dam will have huge negative impacts on them.
For example, there is an anticipated loss of huge chunks of
grazing land as well as the submerging of Koija Star bed lodge including other important
cultural sites. It will also cause unemployment due to the closure of other
tourism facilities, loss of traditional medicinal plants for both human and
cattle as well as bee keeping projects. The community members also quoted
serious lack of public participation and consultation stating that they have
not been involved in decision making for the project, in addition to absence of
a transparent compensation strategy for the would be affected.
This feedback and insights from the local communities will provide a clear guidelines to the County Government of Laikipia as well as the National governments in policy formulation for community conservancies and sustainable tourism development.
Cosmas Nzomo is a PHD Candidate in Tourism Management at the School of Business, Economics and Tourism of Kenyatta University as well as the Logistics and Guest Relations Manager at Mpala Research Centre.